Do you have water entering bilge via keel bolts?
This could be galvanic interference between keel fin and keel plate/bolts.

To be sure i would lower the keel (turn the keel bolts open from inside).
Then remove all caulking on top of your keel fin and caulk excessively with new silkaflex.
Pull keel fin up (tighten keel bolts equally from inside bilge).
Now is sure watertight again!

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Telstar 28
New England

You know what the first rule of sailing is? ...Love. You can learn all the math in the 'verse, but you take
a boat to the sea you don't love, she'll shake you off just as sure as the turning of the worlds. Love keeps
her going when she oughta fall down, tells you she's hurting 'fore she keens. Makes her a home.

—Cpt. Mal Reynolds, Serenity (edited)

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The keel is iron. I wire brushed back down to bare metal yesterday to see what's going on.

I do have some rust around the keel boats -- It may be becasue I left water in the bilge all year. With several compartments, all the water in the bilge doesn't get pumped out. And rain from the mast gets in too. Since being on the hard, I made rain catchers that catch the mast rain water, and I use a shop vac to get it completely dry.

Stainless bolts, by the way. I plan to follow Beneteau's recommendation to pick a random bolt each year and check it. (Normally Beneteaus have galvanized bolts.)

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Telstar 28
New England

You know what the first rule of sailing is? ...Love. You can learn all the math in the 'verse, but you take
a boat to the sea you don't love, she'll shake you off just as sure as the turning of the worlds. Love keeps
her going when she oughta fall down, tells you she's hurting 'fore she keens. Makes her a home.

—Cpt. Mal Reynolds, Serenity (edited)

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Don't panic. I just went through this with my boat and did a lot of research on the issue. This is normal for anyone who owns an iron keel. Use 5200 or 4200 (probably better as it sets faster) on the joint. The keel will work as you sail so you may need to do it every time you haul out. It is just the curse of the builder and is one of the one weak points in the design. You could get the yard to move the keel block to the aft of the keel, thereby opening the gap up a bit more. You could then get some sealant in there further and it should last longer.

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Telstar 28
New England

You know what the first rule of sailing is? ...Love. You can learn all the math in the 'verse, but you take
a boat to the sea you don't love, she'll shake you off just as sure as the turning of the worlds. Love keeps
her going when she oughta fall down, tells you she's hurting 'fore she keens. Makes her a home.

—Cpt. Mal Reynolds, Serenity (edited)

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I'm going to give Sikaflex a try. It's what Jomsviking recommended on the AS site.

West Marine doesn't have it in stock, so I'll look into getting somewhere else, tomorrow.

Meanwhile, I covered the exposed iron with.... ((drumroll please)).. duct tape. Add that to the list of uses for the stuff. It may have surface rust by the time I start wire brushing it again, Maybe with a duct tape covering it there will be less rust.

I was planning a West Marine rant when I drove away thinking "Why don't they stock the things in their catalog?" I also note that they don't have navigation lights for the size of our boat, and other things as well. And you have to really look to find the diesel fuel treatment (and they only had the biocide, not the stuff that takes water out of the fuel). (end rant)

Sikaflex. Now I just have to figure out what type & what size. 20 oz tube, I'd think, for resealing all the way around the keel with new sikaflex.

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